Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

57 reviews

lsaunders685's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

aclancy974's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I’m going to be thinking about this for a long time. In the best way. Memorable. Soulful. Moving. But please see content warnings, this could be potentially triggering or you may want to prepare to read differently ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Islamophobia

rainreading's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

hollynewton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This book navigates adult friendships, aging, career paths, addiction, romantic relationships, and family is the most insightful and beautiful way I have ever read. Unfortunately, this all ends around a third of the way in, when the book focuses on one character’s extremely traumatic life. <spoilers> The graphic and excessive descriptions of child rape, self harm and domestic abuse left me desensitised, an effect that I think is harmful to the reader and one that I hope the author did not intend. I understand that Jude’s suffering is the foundation of his character, but Yanagihara’s rendering of his abuse feels sensationalist and in my opinion trauma porn. Whilst a full recovery and happy ending for Jude would have been unrealistic, the sheer volume of physical, psychological, sexual abuse he experiences is so extreme that it feels pointless. Yes, everything that happens to Jude happens to real people, but does it all ever happen to one singular person? Jude is abandoned in an alley as a baby, a child prostitute raped almost daily, a double amputee, has an eating disorder, performs serious self harm almost daily, and loses the love of his life in a car accident. But also, he’s a vastly wealthy and successful lawyer, an exquisite singer of Schubert’s lieder, a professional-grade baker, incredibly good-looking, is adopted as an adult by his ex professor and falls in love with his best friend of 30 years. <spoilers> The result is that the book feels preachy without actually being clear as to what it is preaching; are we to feel guilty that such horrors occur in the world? Empathy for this fictitious anomaly of a person who experiences it all? Grateful for our own normal struggles in life? I’m not sure, but this book was painful to read and without many benefits for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

erikajosephison's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is not for everyone - very important to check all trigger/content warnings before reading. I know the book is controversial (and for good reason) but I really loved the writing and the character profiles that the author created in such a way they felt like real people, like friends I actually knew. I also loved how Time was conveyed throughout the novel as well - without specific dates or years but through occasions and references to those in flashbacks. It is a difficult book, with a lot of confronting topics (even beyond the expected) but worthwhile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

rayinbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Never read anything like this in my 24 years of existence. This is perhaps the only book which made me physically get up from my seat and take deep breaths before I could actually grasp the contents of the pages I had just read. Even though it moved me, I would probably not recommend it to anyone I know, considering how traumatic it gets as the book traverses.
That being said, if I could muster the strength to read it all over again, I would.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Stalking, and Abandonment

readingwithfrega's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

ciaraflorence's review against another edition

this book was written for those who have not experienced pain in their life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

holliejoy's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

raitherabbit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I started this book with a healthy mental state and ended it with a relapse of my depression. I love the characters but absolutely hate what happens to them, and I loathe the author for their intention with the story. Overall, I’m not asking for a happily ever after, I wanted justification (though I guess that was her point). The writing is amazing and I enjoyed it, but the scenes at times were just too much— which was the point exactly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail